Fall sports

Taylor is a good man to volunteer to coach his boys.  It takes a lot of time, and turns out... managing 8 and 9 year olds is pretty hard. :)  He did a great job though.  And there is something REALLY fun about having your dad be your coach.  The boys love it!

Jake was the all-star quarter back.  He wanted to play receiver, but he was just to valuable to the team at quarterback.  It helps that Taylor and he pass the football for a couple hours EVERY night.  I'm not exaggerating,  every night until it's too cold or dark to throw. 

Luke is our little speedster.  He definitely has the fast twitch muscles that his dad has.  He loves to run past people too.  As soon as he can connect the mental part of his game, he will be a great athlete.

 Love these 2 pictures of Jake and Luke.. I love that they are only 1 year apart.  They are buddies and so fun to have together.  Below you can see Jake handed the ball off to Luke and now he is going to block.  Luke is ready to run full speed ahead.

 Okay, so this is amazing!  A mom of one of the kids (doesn't even know Taylor except from coaching) made this quilt for him.  It's AWESOME!  all the boys signed it and it is SO warm.  What a sweet gesture for just a city team.  Taylor was totally touched.

 

Taylor got to coach and so did I!  but, I can definitely handle the 4 year old soccer team.  They are the BEST!.  I actually had all these kids in nursury a couple years ago, so it's super fun to hang out with them again.  We had an UNDEFEATED season.  That's possible when they don't keep score right?  

Nate was full of energy in the game.  He kind of got it, which was cute.  He played hard and loved being out on the field.

 

Unfortunately, about half the games, Nate fell asleep on the way to the field and he would not wake up for ANYTHING. Everyone thought it was so funny.  My boys will sleep anywhere!   

 And then there was SAM.  He was the stinkin' star of the team.   He would score so much that I would have to tell him to pass the ball and stop scoring.  We killed all the teams we played and it was all because of Sam.  He wasn't that accurate or skilled, he is just big, fast and competitive. 

 Sam-bug was SUPER fun to watch. 

 My superstar Shark-Dolfin team.  SO FUN.  This was the best sports season we've had yet, and I think it was because I got to hang out with these cute kiddos and they ALL LOVED playing.  So fun.

My cute players.  below L2R: Ella, Sam, Brydger, Nate, Jaya (not pictured was Coy)

 Having Jake and Luke on different HC storm teams this year was a bit crazy.  That, with Sam and Nate and Flag Football all taking place led to a very busy and crazy fall.  September was the worst, and the most fun.  I don't think I enjoy anything more than watching my boys play sports.  I am a cheerleader at heart, I guess!

 Jake got on a new team this year and started as a defensive player.  He got moved to Forward and the coach really likes him because he is always in the right place. He scored about 6 goals this year and they were all deflected off him because he was in the right place... whatever works eh?

I can't believe I actually caught a picture of this goal.  YAY..  he loves to score.

Luke enjoyed his first year on a competitive team.  He played hard when he was in and we are hoping to keep him around a ball all winter so that he can make the same team next year.  He is the youngest on his team, so he has to try extra hard (which isn't his favorite thing to do).  He likes to just have things come easily for him!

He does have some pretty good foot work though.  I was always impressed to watch him move the ball.  Funny how some people are born with athleticism. Hopefully he can learn how to develop it and excel.

This is Luke's team at his last game.  They were undefeated this season.  So, of course they had to celebrate with a dog pile on each other!

Even at a young age, the boys are taught to be respectful.  This is Jake waiting for an injured player to be removed from the field.  I like to see that kind of sportsmanship.  

I also love that the kids would come from Luke's team and do High Fives to the parents after each win.  The boys loved it and it was a fun way to let the parents cheer for all the kids.  Cute idea!!

So -- that about sums up my September...... On to October and a lot more of those fun times.

Fun night... Horrible game!!

So, it was BEAUTIFUL weather, GREAT company, A TON of excitement, yet....

SUCH A LOUSY GAME!  I love the cougars.  I think I will always bleed blue even if they never win, but ugh... Throw a stinkin' accurate pass already!!!

 Honestly, the night was perfect besides the game.  Lincoln brought his 2 boys, Justen brought his 2 oldest kids, Taylor brought me and the Dehners, and my nephew Breckon was nice enough to sit with Jake a little ways up to keep him company.  I've never seen the stadium with so much energy.  It was really cool. 

I love any chance to get out with my man.  He is fun to hang out with and when I found out the Dehners were coming I knew the night would be great.  It's fun to have Jacob love the games as well.  He gets SO into them.  He knows all the players names and comments on every play if it's good or bad.  It's fun to have a boy just like his daddy.

And, since we are posting... I might as well throw in some random pictures from the last week.

 I love a summer rain storm.  We've been getting a lot lately, and last week the boys thought it would be fun to run around in their britches.  I love the cute boys in our neighborhood.  Sam and Nate have some great friends!

L2R: Beckham, Nate, Sam, Cougar

 I just have to post this bottom picture, because if you know Nate, you know he ALWAYS has my phone.  He was taking some shots, while at the High School Football game.  Look how tickled he is to have my phone.  I fear I have a gamer on my hands.  He is way too happy when he is playing on my phone. :) Sometimes it is convenient, but mostly freaks me out that a 3 year old can be addicted to games!!  Love this bug. 

Big Cottonwood Marathon

I DID IT!  Well, sort of.  I finally feel great about my race, but I missed the Boston Qualifying time by 1 minute. :(  and 7 seconds.  I guess it just keeps me looking forward to the next race right?

The race was supposed to start at 6:40 am and the buses loaded at 4am.  I left my house at 3:15am, picked up Heidi Galbraith (my friend in the neighborhood) and headed to the bus load.  Here is a GREAT shot of me on the bus!  You can tell it's early!  Amber is next to me and Jenn and Kathryn behind me.  Katie and Tara are behind them, but they aren't really ready for the shot like me. haha

Look how cute miss Kathryn is.  She is the running vet of our group and beats us all by 20 minutes or more in races.  We are just glad she still likes to train with us, because she definitely keeps us all laughing AND working hard at the same time.  She is a nurse and besides being a great friend, she is everyone's doctor too.  She is in school to be a NP and will finish up this year.  Can't wait for her to be able to look into the boys ears and throat and prescribe medicine without having to drag them to the doctor's office. :)

 

We had a minor catastrophe on the ride up.  1st of all, the bus driver was going the wrong way, but fortunately Kathryn is from Draper and got him all straightened out.  We were behind several buses due to our unexpected detour.  It was okay, because we thought it was better to be warm, than standing out in the cold waiting for other buses..... However, when we got to the top of the canyon (about 3 miles from the start) and heard on the radio that a tour bus was high centered with only 1 wheel on the ground blocking the road.  No buses could get by, or turn around.

Fortunately, I told the bus driver I would take over and get the situation worked out. haha.  We sat for about 30 minutes waiting for some one to do something, and then they finally decided to have us all walk up about 1/2 mile and get shuttled to the start from there.  I was just glad it wasn't raining, because it was in the forecast to dump on us!

L2R: Me, Jennifer Franks, Katie Pritchard, Tara Broberg, Heidi Galbraith, Kathryn Morrill

We finally made it to the start and the porta potties.  Look how BEAUTIFUL it was up there.  We were eye level with the clouds and still, NO RAIN!!  Everyone was hurrying to get ready to start and after all the detours and delays, it only put the race back about 30 minutes.  Everything else from there on was SMOOTH sailin'.  I love this picture in garbage bags... we were prepared for rain and cold. But the start of the race turned out to be perfect weather.

 

 These are some RockStar women.  This is Jenn's first marathon and she did awesome!  She just wanted to run in 4 hours and she got that almost to the second.  I tell ya, a lot of racing is mental.  If you tell yourself you can do it... you really can!  I love running with Jenn.  Seems like we see eye to eye on most every topic and it's fun to rant and discuss while we exercise.

 Love this Katie Girl... She is basically my same pace (usually a little faster) but we train together and I think she is super entertaining and fun.  Look at her next to me she is half my size, and then know that she has a baby too!!  She just popped her out and got right back in the game.  She amazes me!  So glad I have good running buddies to aspire to be like.

 It was so fun to have a big group to cheer for!  I'm usually the last one over the line, so getting to root for others was super fun.  I love watching people come across the finish line.  It's very emotional, and inspirational.  Even if you aren't a runner, seeing people accomplish a goal is very moving.

 YAY Amber!!  She made her goal and I KNEW she would.  She did awesome and ran it in 4 hours. It's so fun to have friends to train with.  Even though Amber and I didn't do our runs physically together, we would call and chat about how we did, or what we were going to try this time, etc. It was fun to have some one concerned because people not training get so sick of listening to you talk about all the boring details.  It's my favorite part though!

 Below is the whole group... we all finished.  BARELY WALKING!  Down hill is a killer on the body, but I was super happy with the time it gave me. I didn't have any running pictures with Heidi or Kathryn because they are so fast.  BUT, like Kathryn, Heidi is one of those natural runners that still just runs with you because she is nice! I don't know if I have ever met a more athletic person than Heidi.  She is good at everything she does. OH, and she has 9 kids that keep her busy outside of sports and running. I told you... I have some amazing friends, right?

Time to train for St. George now!!! Who wants to run with me?

Sam Got Stitches....

Poor kid.  Sam bit his lip today while he was "NINJA fighting"  with Nate on the Trampoline.

You would be surprised to know that is our first injury (to the doctor) with our tramp.  It's a pretty good statistic since all my boys (and the neighbors) play on it 24/7.

 Here are a couple photos of Sam at the doctor.  He had a soccer game that he didn't want to miss, so he played the game first and then we went to the insta-care.  I love that he didn't let the cut keep him from his game.  He is competitive and loves to score.

 Sam didn't cry at all during stitches.  He sat up for a minute while they put the numbing shot in, but then he laid right down and held super still.  The doctor and nurse where surprised he was so still.  Good thing we had practice at the dentist, right?

 All done and home.  He is a trooper.  I hope he thinks twice before wrestling his brothers next time, but some how I think the memory will be short lived. :)  At least we have good insurance.  We use it all the time with these crazy boys!!

Labor day fun

One benefit of having a foreign exchange student is getting them to cook some 

AUTHENTIC Chinese food for you! 

 Felice has another friend that is staying in SLC and they got together this weekend.  It was fun to have Zale (Zeleda to Taylor and the kids).  They cooked up some feast for our Sunday dinner.

 Then on Monday morning we decided to hike the "Y."  Felice told us she liked to hike, but I don't think they hike like we do here in the western U.S.  She was pretty pooped, but made it to the top with the rest of the gang.

 Sam kept saying, "the Y looks so little, but in real life it is HUGE. "  We had a fun day with cousins that still remained from Luke's baptism.

 We headed to the park for lunch before saying goodbye to the Lewises and then of course, we had to finish the day with a swim at the Provo Rec Center.  It's our new favorite place.  I'll have to take a camera next time!

 Crazy Hair Day at school.. Love that all the kids like to participate.  It makes it fun for everyone!

Back to a routine...

My favorite time of the week is when I get to take the boys to the library for story time.  Sam and Nate LOVE Beckham.  He lives across the street and they are bestest of buddies.  If they could hang out with Beck all day everyday, they would be happy. We have missed storytime over the summer and are glad to be back.

We have been having a crazy month of sports... (see next next post about Fall Sports) and although the boys are pretty good to go and support their brothers, they get a little bored at the games too.

I am always happy to see them jumping on each other.  They get to be physical and have fun. - just hope they don't get hurt.

One fun thing about being in Northern Utah is that if any of my nieces or nephews travel for games, it's usually up here.  Lindsay Heaton plays for  Snow Canyon's girls rugby team and Ty and Kait came down to watch her.  It was a perfect weather for a family outing.

I have to end with this picture, because it is how my bed looks every morning!!!  The best part is that Sam is perpendicular to everyone else.  That is how he sleep EVERY night.  So to have him in the bed with you always results in a kick in the face. :)

When do they grow out of coming into our room?  I have to blame it on my husband because he LOVES when they come and cuddle with him in the mornings, but their mornings have gotten earlier and earlier lately and a lot of times, Taylor and I just leave and go sleep in the guest bed.  I love these bugs... but SLEEP IN YOUR OWN BEDS! :)